•.•.■.•..•.•■•■•.  »^  •.•.-■•■-.-■.•.•■[  ►!-  ■..■.-■.■.•.•■■.  *i*  •■•..•■  .•.•■-■•.  *i*   ..■■•.-.•.'/.■ 


Dedication  . 


.  OF  . 


•Stark .  Park 


BY 


.  The  City  of  Manchester  . . 


.  .  .  New  Hampshire  .  .  . 


•       • 


0  RATION  .  .  . 


BY 


.  QEN.  CHAS.  H.  BARTLETT  . 


.  .  .  June  17,  1893  .  .  . 


DEDICATION 


Stark  Park 


CITY  OF  MANCHESTER,  N.  H. 


ORATION 

Gen.  Chas.  H.  Bartlett 

June  17, 1893 


MANCHESTER.  N.  H. 

PRINTED   BY    THi:    JOHN   B.  CLARKE   COMPANY 

1S93 


DEDICATION  EXERCISES. 


An  event  which  awakened  memories  of  the  patriotic 
past, —  inspiring  recollections  of  that  period  when  this 
nation  was  born, —  was  the  dedication  of  Stark  Park  on 
the  seventeenth  of  June,  1893,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Manchester  city  councils. 

Pursuant  to  a  vote  of  the  city  government,  a  committee 
consisting  of  Mayor  E.  J.  Knowlton,  Aldermen  James 
Lightbody  and  Richard  J.  Barry,  Councilmen  Joseph  Tait, 
George  E.  Fellows,  and  Ludger  E.  Desrochers,  and  Park 
Commissioners  George  H.  Stearns,  Leonard  P.  Reynolds, 
and  Horace  P.  Simpson  was  appointed  in  May  to  make  all 
the  necessary  arrangements  for  the  exercises,  and  under 
their  direction  and  that  of  the  board  of  fire  engineers, — 
who  ordered  the  annual  parade  of  the  fire  department  for 
the  same  day, —  the  various  details  of  the  program  were 
carried  out. 

The  morning  dawned  with  lowering  skies  and  a  drizzling 
rain,  which  later  in  the  day  developed  into  a  driving  storm. 
Despite  this  inhospitable  outlook  it  was  determined  to 
carry  out  the  event  in  full  in  accordance  with  previous 
arrangements,  and  at  10  o'clock  a.  m.  one  of  the  grandest 
civic  and  military  processions  that  has  ever  been  seen  in 
New  Hampshire  was  moving  through  Elm  street  north- 
ward to  the  park.  Conspicuous  in  the  parade  were  the 
Amoskeag  Veterans,  of  Manchester,  Worcester  Continent- 
als, of  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  Putnam  Phalanx,  of  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,   these  commands  comprising  the  only  Conti- 


nental  organizations  in  this  country.     Uniformed  after  the 
manner  of  the  Continentals  of  Revolutionary  days,  there 
seemed  an  especial  appropriateness  in  their  presence. 
The  procession  moved  in  the  following  order: 

THE  PARADE. 

Chief  of  Police  M.  J.  Healy. 
Platoon  of  Police,  fourteen  men  ;  Capt.  Lafayette  Tebbetts  com- 
manding. 
New  Hampshire  Cycling  Club,  fifty-six  men  ;  Capt.  Moses  Sher- 
riff  commanding. 
Chief  Marshal  Winfred  H.  Bennett. 
Chief  of  Staff  Charles  D.  Sumner. 
Staff:  Willis  Patten,  Frank  Preston,  George  E.  French,  A.   W. 
Glines,  Charles  E.   Wason,  Irving  L.    Campbell,  Edwin   H. 
Carpenter,  O.  D.  Knox,  J.  H.  DeCourcy,  Dr.  W.  H.  Lyons. 

FIRST  DIVISION. 

Francis  H.  Pike,  drum  major. 

City  Band,  twenty-six  pieces  ;  Horace  D.  Gordon,  leader. 

Chief  Marshal,  Chief  Engineer  Thomas  W.  Lane. 

Aids :    Assistant   Engineers  Fred   S.   Bean,  Ruel    G.  Manning, 
Eugene  S.  Whitney,  Clarence  D.  Palmer. 

Manchester  Drum  Corps,  four  pieces. 

Manchester  Veteran   Firemen's  Association,  twenty  men.  Presi- 
dent Orrin  E.  Kimball. 

General  Stark  Steam  Fire  Engine  Company  No.  5,  with  appara- 
tus, fourteen  men  ;   Charles  W.  Brown,  foreman. 

Amoskeag  Steam  Fire  Engine   Company  No.  i,  with   apparatus, 
fourteen  men  ;  Charles  F.  McCoy,  foreman. 

Fire  King  Steam   Fire  Engine  Company  No.  2,  with  apparatus, 
fourteen  men  ;  David  G.  Mills,  foreman. 

Merrimack  Steam  Fire  Engine  Company  No.  3,  with  apparatus, 
fourteen  men  ;  Frank  F.  Porter,  foreman. 

N.  S.  Bean  Steam  Fire  Engine  Company  No.  4,  with  apparatus,- 
fourteen  men  ;  Lucius  B.  Snelling,  foreman. 


-Chemical   Engine   Company  No.    i,  with  apparatus,   five   men  ; 

George  N.  Burpee,  foreman. 
Pennacook  Hose   Company  No.  i,  with  apparatus,  twelve  men  ; 

Albert  Maxfield,  foreman. 
Massabesic   Hose  Company  No.    2,  with  apparatus,  twelve  men  ; 

John  F.  Seaward,  foreman. 
Excelsior   Hook  and    Ladder   Company  No.    i,  with   apparatus, 

twenty  men  ;  Jerome  J.  Lovering,  foreman. 

SECOND  DIVISION. 

Col.  G.  M.  L.  Lane  and  staff,  consisting  of  Col.  Miner  G.  Fry, 
of  Derry,  Major  Frank  B.  Perkins,  Adjutant  C.  S.  Clifford, 
Chaplain  Charles  S.  Murkland,  Surgeon  Neil  F.  Starr,  Pay- 
master Harry  E.  Parker,  Quartermaster  George  F.  Higgins, 
Captain  Harry  B.  Cilley. 

First  Regiment  Band,  twenty-eight  pieces;  W.  S.  H.  Jones, 
leader. 

Sheridan  Guards,  Co.  B,  Capt.  E.  F.  Shea,  forty  men. 

Drum  Corps,  four  pieces  ;  J.  E.  Herring,  leader. 

Scammon  Rifles,  Co.  E,  Capt.  F.  W.  Tibbetts,  forty  men. 

Lafayette  Guards,  Co.  H,  First  Lieutenant  M.  R.  Maynard,  for- 
ty-five men. 

Upton  Light  Infantry,  Co.  C,  First  Lieutenant  E.  H.  Knight, 
thirty  men,  together  with  two  drummers. 

Emmet  Guards,  Co.  K,  Capt.  P.  H.  O'Malley,  thirty  men. 

Independent  Drum  Corps,  five   pieces  ;  J.  H.  McKenzie,  leader. 

Manchester  Cadets,  Capt.  F.  L.  Downs,  forty  men. 

West  Side  Drum  Corps,  four  pieces  ;  L.  Boardman,  leader. 

High  School  Cadets,  Capt.  Herman  Christophe,  forty  men. 

Pontifical  Zouaves,  Capt.  J.  H.  Gamache,  twenty  men. 

Columbia  Drum  Corps,  six  pieces  ;  E.  Jarvis,  leader. 

Young  Sheridans,  Capt.  Robert  Costello,  fifty-six  men. 

Battery,  four  guns,  seventy  men,  First  Lieutenant  Ed.  H.  Cur- 
rier. 

THIRD  DIVISION. 

Chief  Marshal,  Col.  Daniel  F.  Healy. 
Aids:   William  H.  Minot,  Charles  L.  Fuller,  Samuel  M.  Worth- 
ley,  C.  C.  Webster,  Denis  Morgan. 


6 

Manchester  War  Veterans'  Drum  Corps,  four  pieces  ;  J.  F.  Cole,- 
leader. 

Manchester  War  Veterans,  forty-five  men  ;  H.  F.  W.  Little, 
captain. 

Louis  Bell  Post  No.  3,  G.  A.  R.,  forty  men  ;  Henry  S.  Perry, 
commander. 

Joseph  Freschl  Post  No.  94,  G.  A.  R.,  twenty  men  ;  Austin  Go- 
ings, commander. 

FOURTH  DIVISION. 

Chief  of  Staff,  Major  Abner  J.  Sanborn. 
Aids  :  John  Hanson,  H.  W.  Oxtbrd,  Dr.  E.  B.   Dunbar,  Harry 

Lord,  James  G.  Lake,  Col.  F.  W.  McKinley,  Thomas  Slattery, 

Frank  X.  Chenette. 
Rublee's  Band,  Laconia,  twenty-six  pieces  ;  A.  F.  Rublee,  leader ; 

Moody  K.  Wilson,  drum  major. 
Amoskeag   Veterans,    seventy-two    men  ;    major    commanding, 

Henry  E.  Burnham. 
Delegates  from  Boston   Tigers  :   Capt.  F.  T.   Rose,  Capt.   L.   F. 

Papautt,  Capt.  George  W.  Hunt,  Lieut.  J.  H.  Quinn. 
Worcester  Brass  Band,  twenty-three  pieces  ;  L.  D.  Waters,  leader. 
Worcester  Continentals,  one  hundred  men  ;  Col.  Nathan  Taylor 

commanding. 
Putnam  Phalanx  Drum  Corps,  sixteen  pieces  :   Major  Norman  L. 

Hope,  leader. 
Putnam  Phalanx,  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  men  ;  Col.  H.  O. 

Blanchard  commanding. 
Carriage  containing  Gov.   J.  B.   Smith,  of  Hillsborough  ;  Gen. 

George  Cook,  of  Concord  ;  Col.  F.  C.  Dow,  of  Manchester. 
Carriage  containing  Gen.    S.  H.  Gale,  of  E^xeter ;   Col.  C.  H. 

Dunlap,  of  Nashua  ;   Capt.  H.  H.  Miller,  U.  S.  A. 
Carriage   containing   Gen.   C.    H.  Bartlett,  orator  of  the  day, 

Congressman  Henry  W.  Blair,  Mayor  E.  J.    Knowlton,    pres- 
ident of  the  day,  and  Rev.  F.  S.  Bacon,  chaplain  of  the  day. 
Carriage  containing  Street  Commissioners   George   H.  Stearns, 

Leonard  P.  Reynolds,  Horace  Simpson,    and   Clerk   Allan  E. 

Herrick. 


Carriage  containing  Col.  George  A.  Purrington,  Col.  George 
L.  Bliss,  T.  P.  Card,  George  W.  Hubbard,  and  Robert 
Ruddy. 

Carriage  containing  W.  A.  Gile,  of  Worcester  ;  Chaplain  Almon 
Gunnison,  of  the  Continentals  ;  Hiram  Foisaith,  and  Senator 
A.  G.  Fairbanks. 

Carriage  containing  J.  F.  Bruso  and  H.  N.  H.  Lugrin,  of  Wor- 
cester ;  A.  M.  Bowers,  of  New  York  ;  and  Henry  A.  Hoyt,  of 
Worcester. 

Carriage  containing  George  L.  Hall,  B.  F.  Doherty,  and  A.  W. 
Rose,  of  Worcester;  and  G.  A.  Cheney,  of  the  "  Worcester 
Gazette." 

Carriage  containing  J.  S.  North  of  Welaka,  Fla. ;  J.  W.  Cos- 
lee,  of  Glastonbury,  Conn.;  A.  R.  Baker,  of  the  "Hartford 
Courant  "  ;  and  George  K.  Wilcox,  of  the  "  Harcford  Post." 

Carriage  containing  E.  Dart,  J.  X.  Waite,  R.  R.  Lamatery,  and 
C.  F.  Hart,  all  of  Hartford. 

Carriage  containing  Isaac  N.  Bertram,  of  Sharon,  Conn.  ; 
Henry  Ensign,  E.  R.  Barnard,  and  F.  A.  Honess,  of  Hart- 
ford. 

Carriage  containing  Chaplain  E.  L.  Thorp,  of  the  Putnam 
Phalanx ;  ex-Mayor  G.  M.  Brown,  ex-Mayor  Henry  Ken- 
nedy, and  Capt.  W.  H.  Lockwood,  of  the  Putnam  Phalanx. 

Carriage  cc>ntaining  George  S.  Nichols,  C.  Hunt,  S.  L.  Barker, 
of  Hartford  ;  and  D.  L.  Talbett,  of  Glastonbury,  Conn. 

Carriage  containing  E.  B.  Chase,  H.  F.  Barrows,  Henry  Kohn, 
and  C.  T.  Georgia,  of  Hartford. 

Carriage  containing  Edward  J.  Lamb,  F.  W.  Heins,  B.  Blu- 
menthal,  and  Louis  Ling,  of  Hartford. 

Carriage  containing  William  Waldo  H}de,  of  Hartford  ;  Con- 
gressman Lewis  Sperry. 

Carriage  containing  Edson  S.  Heath,  Frank  A.  Dockham,  L.  E. 
Phelps,  and  City  Solicitor  Edwin  F.  Jones. 

Carriage  containing  ex-Gov.  Frederick  Smyth  and  Councilnien 
Joseph  Dana,  John  Gildard,  and  Joseph  Tait. 

Carriage  containing  Aldermen  Byron  Worthen,  Sam  C.  Lowell, 
William  Marcotte,  and  George  W.  Reed. 

Carriage  containing  Alderman  James  Lightbody,  Councilmen 
Charles  H.  Harvey,  George  E.  Heath,  and  Frank  H.  Libbey. 


'Carriage  containing  City  Auditor  James  B.  Straw,  City  Treasurer 
S)'lvanus  B.  Putnam,  Councilman  Charles  R.  Holbrook,  and 
City  Clerk  N.  P.  Kidder. 

Carriage  containing  ex-Alderman  Oliver  B.  Green,  Alderman  C. 
L.  Wolf,  Zebulon  Northrup,  and  J.  H.  Nutter. 

Carriage  containing  Councilmen  Harry  E.  Webster,  George  B. 
Rogers,  Alexander  J.  McDonald,  and  Frank  X.  Foster. 

Carriage  containing  Col.  E.  C.  Shirley,  Alderman  A.  D.  Max- 
well, Tax  Collector  George  E.  Morrill,  and  Councilman  L. 
K.  Snow. 

Carriage  containing  S.  B.  Stearns,  C.  B.  Spofford,  G.  E.  Fel- 
lows, and  George  L.  Stearns. 

Barges  containing  one  hundred  High  School  pupils. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  head  of  the  procession  at  the 
park,  the  famous  "  Molly  Stark  "  cannon,  captured  from 
the  Hessians  at  the  battle  of  Bennington,  by  General 
Stark,  belched  forth  a  welcoming  salute  of  thirteen  guns. 

The  occupants  of  the  carriages,  the  school  children, 
and  the  First  Regiment  Band,  together  with  a  delegation 
from  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  took 
seats  upon  a  spacious  inclosed  platform,  which  had  been 
especially  prepared  for  the  occasion,  near  the  grave  of 
Stark,  the  military  companies  and  civilians  filling  the  wide 
expanse  in  front  of  the  platform. 


THE  EXERCISES. 


Mayor  E.  J.  Knowlton,  president  of  the  day,  called  the 
assembly  to  order,  and  spoke  as  follows  : 

We  meet  on  this  memorable  anniversary  to  perform  the  patri- 
otic duty  of  dedicating  this  beautiful  tract  of  thirty  acres  of 
land  to  the  uses  of  the  public,  and  in  so  doing  we  commemorate 
the  valor,  patriotism,  and  loyalty  of  Gen.  John  Stark,  virtues 
which  shone  so  resplendently  in  him  at  Bunker  Hill,  a  century 
and  eighteen  years  ago  this  day.  The  ashes  of  the  old  hero  and 
his  faithful  consort,  Molly  Stark,  sleep  within  this  park,  and 
although  their  forms  have  parsed  away,  yet  do  they  speak  to  us 
from  out  of  the  past,  and  that  we  have  not  forgotten  the  achieve- 
ments wrought  through  sacrifices  of  the  men  and  women  of 
1776  is  demonstrated  by  the  events  of  this  day. 

The  First  Regiment  Band  followed  with  an  overture 
composed  of  national  melodies,  at  the  conclusion  of  which 
one  hundred  pupils  from  the  Manchester  High  School, 
under  the  direction  of  Prof.  J.  J.  Kimball,  sang 
"  America." 

The  invocation  by  the  chaplain  of  the  day,  Rev.  F.  S. 
Bacon,  pastor  of  the  People's  Baptist  Tabernacle,  was  as 
follows  : 

INVOCATION. 

Almighty  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  we,  Thy  children,  re- 
joice this  day  in  Thee.  In  Thee  we  live  and  move  and  have 
our  being.  We  bless  Thee  for  this  glorious  day,  with  all  its 
privileges  and  o])portunities.  Thou  art  ever  with  us  in  the  mi- 
nutest as  well  as  the  largest  affairs  of  life.  Thou  art  constantly 
regarding  us  with  all  embracing  love.  And  now,  Lord  God,  as 
•we  are  gathered  on  this  memorial  occasion,  in  the  presence  of 
■this  monumental  shaft,  whose  dumb  lips  grow  eloquent  with  the 
-memories  of  him  whose  dust  sleeps  beneath, —  upon  this  anniver- 


10 

sary  day  of  our  country's  earliest  struggle  for  freedom,  we  be- 
seech Thee  to  fill  our  hearts  with  gratitude,  and  our  lips  with 
praise. 

We  thank  Thee,  our  Heavenly  Father,  that  the  lines  have  been 
cast  to  us  in  pleasant  places,  and  that  we  have  a  goodly  heritage. 
We  stand  as  a  nation,  upon  a  shore  unshaken,  to  look  out  upon 
the  nations  of  the  earth  that  are  many  of  them  rocked  and  tossed 
as  ships  upon  a  stormy  sea.  We  are  in  peace  while  others  are  in 
tumult ;  we  are  without  revolutions,  while  they  are  in  the  midst 
of  wild  upheavals,  walking  in  garments  dyed  in  blood.  We  be. 
lieve  that  the  footsteps  of  God  are  in  the  earth.  We  rejoice 
that  the  shakings  of  the  people  are  the  signs  of  His  coming  for 
justice;  for  the  deliverance  of  the  poor,  the  needy,  the  down- 
trodden, and  oppressed.  How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long  shall  the 
hoary  prophecies  of  the  past  wait  for  ttieir  grand  fulfillment  ? 
Thou  art  arousing  nations  from  the  slumber  of  ages,  and  through 
fiery  trials  art  bringing  them  forth  into  a  brighter  day. 

We  rejoice  in  Thee,  and  when  we  compare  our  privileges  with 
those  of  nations  afcroad,  we  have  occasion  to  humble  ourselves  in 
view  of  Thy  goodness.  We  have  not  deserved  an  estate  so  much 
better  than  they.  Thou  hast  doubtless  for  our  fathers'  sake 
blessed  us.  We  are  the  inheritors  of  prayers,  of  tears,  of  strug- 
gles, of  self  denials,  that  in  ages  past  Thou  didst  inspire  in  our 
heroic  fathers.  Grant  that  we  may  be  worthy  at  last  of  the  her- 
itage of  their  faith.  Let  us  not  cast  our  birthright  heedlessly 
away.  May  we  stand  in  our  places  not  simply  to  gratify  our- 
selves in  the  riches  of  our  inheritance,  but  to  rejoice  before  God 
in  them,  to  perpetuate  them,  to  transmit  them  to  our  children 
and  our  children's  children,  through  many  generations. 

Be  pleased,  thou  God  of  nations,  to  speak  unto  this  people  and 
unite  our  hearts  in  common  citizenship.  Bless  our  nation.  May 
there  be  progress  in  civilization  ;  may  there  be  progress  in  reli- 
gious things;  may  this  nation  spring  forward  and  develop  a  no- 
bler justice,  a  truer  humanity,  and  a  more  faithful  service  of 
Ihee.  Be  Thou  with  all  our  rulers, —  those  who  occupy  positions 
of  authority  and  power.  May  our  state  and  national  councils  be 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  God.  Bless  our  loved  city  in  all  her 
various  departments  of  civic  life.     May  all  officials,  upon  whom 


11 

devolve  the  wise  administration  of  her  affairs,  be  especially  en- 
lightened and  strengthened  for  their  arduous  duties.  Bless  all 
these  different  organizations  here  represented, —  our  veterans  ot 
the  civil  war,  our  firemen  who  watch  over  our  safety  with  un- 
sleeping vigilance,  our  children  of  the  public  schools  who  mingle 
their  voices  in  patriotic  song,  our  honored  guests,  some  of  whom 
bear  historic  names,  coming  down  to  us  as  voices  from  out  the 
storied  past.  Bless  him  who  speaks  to  us  to-day.  Fill  him  with 
an  appreciation  of  the  grandeur  of  this  occasion,  and  give  him  a 
comprehensive  grasp  upon  the  salient  features  of  his  theme,  so 
that  he  may  utter  thoughts  that  shall  kindle  and  uplift  our  souls. 

And  now,  O  Lord  God,  we  dedicate  this  public  park  in  the 
name  of  patriotism  and  humanity  and  God.  He  who  bequeaths 
to  it  the  sacred  legacy  of  his  honored  name,  one  of  the  foremost 
sons  of  our  loved  commonwealth,  is  no  more.  Watch  Thou 
over  his  peaceful  ashes  which  sleep  their  long  sleep  within  its 
sacred  enclosure.  As  our  youth  and  maidens  walk  within  its 
hallowed  precincts,  may  they  look  with  reverential  homage  upon 
the  monument  which  patriotic  hands  shall  rear,  as  with  subdued 
voices  they  rehearse  the  old  story  of  a  nation's  struggle  and  a 
nation's  triumph. 

And  now,  O  God,  our  prayer  is  before  Thee.  Answer  Thou 
us  according  to  Thine  infinite  mercy.  We  ask  not  because  we 
are  worthy,  but  because  Thou  art  gracious.  We  ask  them  for 
Thine  own  name's  sake,  and  to  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  shall  be  praises  forevermore.     Amen. 

Hon.  Charles  H.  Bartlett  was  next  introdticed,  and  de- 
livered the  following;  oration. 


ORATION. 


Mr.  President  and  Fellotv  Citizens  : 

The  establishment  of  Stark  Park  has  long  been  a  favorite 
project  of  many  of  our  patriotic  citizens,  and  the  public  senti- 
ment, long  tending  in  this  direction,  first  found  expression  in 
organized  movement  on  the  30th  day  of  May,  1889,  upon  this 
spot,  when,  on  motion  of  Edwin  P.  Richardson,  Esq.,  a  com- 
mittee of  five,  consisting  of  ex-Governors  Person  C.  Cheney  and 
Frederick  Smyth,  Col.  George  C.  Gilmore,  Hon.  Aretas  Blood, 
and  the  venerable  Joseph  M.  Rowell,  was  appointed  to  co-oper- 
ate with  a  like  committee  from  Louis  Bell  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  in 
presenting  the  subject  for  the  action  of  the  city  government. 

On  the  2d  day  of  May,  1890,  Louis  Bell  Post,  the  commit- 
tee above  referred  to,  and  many  other  of  our  citizens,  joined 
in  a  memorial  to  the  city  government  praying  for  the  purchase 
of  this  tract  of  land  and  its  use  as  a  public  park,  and  not  merely 
as  a  public  park  but  emphatically  as  a  Stark  park. 

The  proposition  received  favorable  consideration,  and  by  a 
unanimous  vote  it  was  referred  to  the  legal  voters  of  the  city  to 
be  acted  upon  at  the  city  election  in  the  following  November. 
An  overwhelming  vote  in  favor  of  the  proposition  gave  the 
city  government  full  power  to  act,  in  the  premises,  and  on  the 
3d  day  of  January,  1891,  the  city  completed  the  purchase  and 
received  the  conveyance  from  Elizabeth  B.  Stark  and  Augustus 
H.  Stark,  Imeal  descendants  of  Gen.  John  Stark. 

The  lot  of  two  acres,  embracing  the  site  of  the  monument  and 
the  grave  of  Stark,  was  conveyed  by  his  heirs  to  the  city  on  the 
14th  day  of  January,  1876. 

In  further  development  of  this  patriotic  enterprise,  thus  initi- 
ated, on  this  17th  day  of  June,  a  day  forever  memorable  in  the 
annals  of  civil  liberty,  in  the  presence  of  these  renowned  mili- 
tary organizations,  so  widely  famed,  so  highly  honored,  repre- 
senting in  the  habit  and  costume  of  the  fathers  three  of  the 
commonwealths  that  participated  in  the  formation  of  the  Federal 


13 

Union,  comes  the  city  of  Manchester,  by  her  official  representa- 
tives and  this  vast  concourse  of  her  citizenship,  to  formally  ded- 
icate tnese  acres,  immortalized  and  hallowed  by  the  slumbering 
dust  of  her  greatest  hero  and  patriot,  to  the  free  and  common 
use  of  all  her  people,  in  memory  of  him  whose  name  it  is  the 
pride  and  glory  of  this  great  nation  to  honor  and  cherish,  plain, 
honest,  fearless,  daring,  patriotic  General  John  Stark. 

To  this  work,  so  honorable  to  the  dead,  so  creditable  to  the 
living  who  thus  demonstrate  their  worthiness  of  such  an  ancestry, 
well  may  we  come  with  hearts  filled  with  gratitude  and  generous 
appreciation  and  glowing  with  pardonable  pride  in  the  possession 
of  the  priceless  inheritance  w^hich  is  ours  to  enjoy  and  ours  to 
transmit. 

Most  appropriate,  indeed,  was  the  selection  of  this  day  for  this 
purpose,  for  who,  in  heroic  effort  and  soldierly  achievement,  did 
more  to  impart  the  grand  significance  now  so  universally  ac- 
corded to  it  by  a  great,  happy,  and  liberty-loving  people  than  he 
whose  name  is  ever  hailed  upon  its  recurrence  with  an  unbroken 
chorus  of  sweet  benedictions  from  all  true  and  loyal  American 
hearts  ! 

How  suggestive  is  tliis  day  of  the  names  Bunker  Hill,  Putnam, 
Prescott,  Warren,  Stark  1  —  names  no  one  of  which  is  ever  spo- 
ken with  the  others  unthought  —  floating  in  sweet  companionship 
on  the  tide  of  fame  through  all  the  cycles  of  time,  till  liberty  no 
longer  claims  a  devotee  and  patriotism  finds  no  kneeling  wor- 
shiper at  her  shrine. 

Other  days  have  their  significance  and  their  scarlet  tints  on 
liberty's  calendar,  but  the  17th  of  June,  with  her  baptism  of  fire 
and  blood,  and  her  noble  and  generous  sacrifices  at  the  cradle  of 
the  infant  republic,  can  never  take  second  place  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people  who  dwell  upon  these  hills  and  in  these  valleys,  which 
once  resounded  with  the  footsteps  of  so  many  of  the  actors  in 
that  early  drama  that  so  electrified  the  American  colonies  in  the 
morning  of  their  great  and  noble  struggle  for  liberty  and  inde- 
pendence. 

No  less  appropriate  was  the  selection  of  this  particular  spot  for 
this  purpose.  Indeed,  the  park-builder  was  here  before  Stark,  — 
before  the  white  man  or  the  red,  before  the  waters  had  leaped 


14 

yonder  falls  in  their  reckless  rush  to  the  sea,  before  the  sur- 
rounding forests  had  shed  their  maiden  leaves,  or  the  rainbow  had 
spanned  this  vast  amphitheater  with  its  tri-color  arch.  Before 
any  of  these,  the  creating  palm  of  the  Divine  Architect,  with  a 
cunning  unknown  to  human  skill,  had  molded  and  fashioned  the 
marvelous  landscape  that  spreads  before  us  into  forms  of  beauty 
and  of  grandeur  to  charm  the  eye  and  fascinate  the  soul. 

The  construction  account  of  Stark  Park  is  with  God  and  not 
with  man,  and  so  must  remain  forever.  What  little  Manchester 
can  do  to  beautify,  to  adorn,  to  adapt,  in  comparison  with  what 
nature  has  already  done  with  lavish  and  prodigal  hand,  our  pride 
forbids  the  mention.  Little  indeed  is  left  for  us  but  to  dedicate 
and  enjoy. 

But  it  is  not  alone  because  of  the  attractions  of  this  beautiful 
spot,  it  is  not  alone  for  the  bracing  air,  the  cooling  breeze,  and 
the  life-giving  sun  that  we  dedicate  this  park  to-day.  True  it  is 
that  unnumbered  thousands  will  turn  from  their  accustomed  occu- 
pations when  the  labors  of  the  day  are  done  and  its  burdens  cast 
aside  and  hitherward  bend  their  weary  steps  within  these  ever- 
open  gates  to  revel  in  all  of  these,  and,  thanks  to  the  wisdom 
and  generosity  of  our  City,  the  humblest  child  of  toil  who 
mingles  in  the  activities  of  this  busy,  bustling  metropolis  can 
here  come  and  feel  at  ease,  for  he  can  say,  "  Here  am  I  at  home, 
for  this  spot  is  no  other's  more  than  mine." 

But  other  considerations,  higher,  deeper,  more  soul  pervading 
than  any  which  can  spring  from  our  appreciation  of  the  grand 
and  beautiful  in  nature,  from  relaxation,  rest,  and  social  enjoy- 
ment, have  moved  this  vast  multitude  to  this  historic  spot.  Other 
considerations,  stirring  more  profoundly  the  emotions  of  the 
human  heart,  have  brought  to  us  these  distinguished  guests  from 
the  honored  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  in  whose  store- 
house of  precious  jewels  is  treasured  so  much  of  Revolutionary 
memory  and  renown  —  a  commonwealth  that  embraces  within 
her  borders  Bunker  Hill,  Lexington,  and  Concord,  ample  pass- 
ports to  an  immortality  of  glorious  fame  ;  —  from  Connecticut 
an  organization  whose  very  name  thrills  every  patriotic  heart  and 
awakens  memories  of  deeds  of  daring  and  feats  of  valor  unsur- 
passed in  the  annals  of  war.     Other  considerations  have  brought 


15 

them  to  our  city  to  join  with  our  own  battalion  of  kindred  re- 
nown, whose  presence  is  always  and  everywhere  prized  as  an 
object  lesson  in  colonial  history,  to  join  with  them  in  celebrating 
and  worthily  commemorating  the  great  historic  e^-ent  of  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  years  ago,  a  grateful  duty  already  so 
grandly  and  magnificently  done. 

Welcome,  thrice  welcome,  as  guests  of  our  municipality  this 
day  also,  as  honored,  and  we  trust  not  uninterested  witnesses  of 
these  dedicatory  exercises  —  dedicatory  not  of  a  pleasure  ground 
merely,  for  we  are  here  rather  to  open  this  volume  of  patriotic 
literature,  and  to  invoke  heaven's  blessing  upon  it,  for  such  is 
Stark  Park  to-day  and  so  will  remain  so  long  as  free  government 
blesses  and  protects  us. 

Here  the  living  of  to-day,  and  the  unborn  of  many  a  to-mor- 
row, will  come  to  read  upon  its  sacred  page  the  beautiful  lessons 
of  patriotism,  of  loyalty,  of  love  of  liberty  and  of  country  thus 
imperishably  recorded. 

It  is  true  that  upon  this  spot  no  great  event  of  war  occurred. 
No  hostile  armies  met  here  in  the  shock  of  battle.  These  fields- 
were  never  furrowed  with  plunging  shot  and  shell,  dread  me.ssen- 
gers  of  death  and  destruction.  This  soil  never  slaked  its  thirst 
in  the  crimson  current  fed  by  the  precious  fountains  of  patriotic 
hearts.  The  charge,  the  repulse,  the  shout,  the  response,  the 
solemn  roar  of  artillery,  the  ceaseless  sjjiteful  roll  of  musketry, 
the  clash  of  glistening  steel,  the  groan,  the  execration,  the  curl- 
ing sulphurous  smoke,  rising  above  the  din  and  carnage  of  battle 
as  if  to  shut  out  from  heaven  all  sight  and  sound  of  that  hell  on 
earth  which  war  alone  can  make,  — all  these  are  here  unknown. 

It  is  sometimes  said,  as  though  a  circumstance  of  disparage- 
ment, that  New  Hampshire  boasts  no  battlefields  within  her 
borders.  It  was  never  her  habit  to  await  the  approach  of  an 
enemy.  When  within  her  reach,  whether  at  Bunker  Hill, 
Bennington,  or  elsewhere,  she  always  sallied  forth  to  meet  him, 
and  after  having  met  her  on  other  soil  he  never  sought  to  fur- 
ther cultivate  her  acquaintance. 

But  this  was  the  home  of  Stark.  These  were  his  ancestral 
acres.  Within  sight  of  where  we  stand  his  life  work,  in  time  of 
jDeace,  was  accomplished.     He  tilled  these  fields.     He  tended  the 


16 

mill  just  below  at  the  )"alls.  He  was  a  husbandman,  frugal,  honest, 
industrious.  He  was  not  rich ;  as  wealth  is  now  rated  there 
were  not  great  riches  in  his  day.  This  beautiful  river  that 
seems  to  slumber  at  our  feet,  and  yet  the  busiest  of  rivers, 
turning  more  spindles  than  any  other  of  its  length  on  the  face 
of  the  globe,  had  then  hardly  begun  its  wageless  work  for  man. 
Yet  nobody  asks  about  the  schedule  of  his  assets.  Nobody 
inquires  whether  in  the  pursuit  of  this  world's  possessions  he 
was  successful  or  otherwise ;  whether  in  this  direction  his  luck 
was  good  or  ill. 

Here  is  a  suggestion  for  the  young  who  witness  these 
ceremonies  to-day  and  who  feel  their  hearts  warmed  by  the 
aspiration,  so  honorable  to  youth,  to  deserve  something  ot 
their  race  and  kind  that  shall  cause  their  memories  to  survive 
them,  and  their  names  to  be  honorably  mentioned  by  succeed- 
ing generations.  That  result  is  not  accomplished  by  devotion 
and  consecration  to  one's  own  selfish  and  personal  interests, 
however  successful  he  may  be  in  securing  to  himself  more  than 
his  legitimate  share  of  this  world's  possessions.  Nobody  is 
inquiring  to-day  how  much  or  how  little  General  Stark  did 
for  himself.  Our  thought  is  absorbed  in  that  grander  and 
nobler  consideration,  What  did  he  do  for  his  country  and  for 
mankind?     I  need  not  enlarge  upon  this  suggestion. 

Born  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Londonderry  on  the  28th 
of  August,  1728,  a  change  of  residence  by  his  parents  brought 
him  here  at  eight  years  of  age,  and  he  here  closed  the  days 
allotted  by  a  kind  Providence  to  him  on  earth,  on  the  8th  day 
of  May,  1822,  far  advanced  in  his  94th  year,  having  outlived 
all  his  comrades  in  arms  of  equal  rank  with  himself,  and  here 
he  sleeps  in  death  upon  the  spot  he  most  deeply  loved  in  life. 

It  would  seem  appropriate  and  befitting  the  occasion  if  we 
should  here  review,  somewhat  in  detail,  the  events  in  which 
General  Stark  was  so  conspicuous  an  actor,  his  own  part 
therein,  the  causes  that  led  up  to  the  wars  in  which  he  was 
engaged  and  rendered  an  appeal  to  the  sword  inevitable,  the 
outcome  of  those  struggles,  and  the  consequences  which  have 
so  copiously  flowed  from  them  and  influenced  in  so  marked  a 
degree  the  destiny  of  mankind  upon  the  western  hemisphere, 
but  such  is  not  the  program  of  the  hour,  nor  is  it  necessary. 


17 

Upon  another  occasion  of  comparatively  recent  occurrence 
and  kindred  significance,  a  most  brilliant  and  accomplished 
orator  of  our  state,  now  unhappily  no  more,  whose  keen  and 
polished  intellect  left  no  gem  ungarnered  within  its  reach,  ex- 
plored this  fruitful  and  thrilling  theme  in  all  its  relations,  and 
the  product  of  his  genius  and  profound  study  and  investigation 
is  now  safely  and  conspicuously  incorporated  in  the  permanent 
literature  of  the  state,  and  accessible  to  all.  He  is  indeed  a 
bold  man  who  would  venture  to  improve  or  enlarge  upon  the 
effort  of  a  Patterson,  which  left  nothing  in  doubt,  except 
whether  he  had  contributed  the  more  to  the  glory  and  fame  of 
Stark  as  a  patriot  and  warrior,  or  to  his  own  renown  as  scholar 
and  orator. 

Yet  we  should  expose  ourselves  to  just  criticism,  we  should 
even  suffer  self-reproach  for  unpardonable  neglect,  did  we  fail 
here  and  now,  in  this  memorial  hour,  to  recall  something,  in 
brief,  of  the  grand  typical  character  of  the  era  in  which  he  lived 
and  the  grand  work  he  accomplished. 

Fortunate  indeed  he  was  in  the  allotment  of  his  career  among 
men.  He  fitted  most  perfectly  the  time,  the  place,  and  the 
circumstances  of  his  earthly  existence.  No  other  epoch  in  all 
history  was  better  adapted  to  the  development  of  his  character, 
the  display  of  his  powers  and  the  accomplishment  of  so  great 
and  lasting  results.  'Most  kindly,  too,  did  Providence  deal  with 
him  in  so  lengthening  out  his  tenure  of  life  that  he  was  ]:)ermitted 
to  witness  nearly  a  half  century  of  his  country's  independence 
which  he  helped  to  achieve,  its  growth,  its  development,  pros- 
perity, and  happiness. 

It  was  his  rare  felicity  to  mingle  with  the  generation  that  fol- 
lowed the  Revolutionary  era,  to  receive  its  congratulations,  its 
generous  recognition,  and  its  heartfelt  benedictions,  especially 
when  we  consider  the  mature  age  at  which  his  invaluable  mili- 
tary[services  were  rendered.  The  same  longevity  that  protracted 
his  life  till  1S22  would  have  carried  Grant  to  1916,  Sherman  to 
1914,  and  Sheridan  to  1925.  The  refinements  and  luxuries  of 
modern  civilization  may  have  intensified  human  enjoyments,  but 
they   can   hardly  be  said   to   have  enlarged   the    boundaries  of 

human  existence. 
2 


18 

General  Stark  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent  and  inherited  a 
physique  characteristic  of  his  ancestry.  Tough  as  a  gnarled 
oak,  erect  as  a  forest  pine,  with  muscles  of  hickory  and  nerves 
of  steel,  with  a  courage  that  knew  not  fear,  to  him  summer's 
heat,  winter's  cold,  forced  marches,  exposure,  and  privations  were 
all  trifles  light  as  air. 

Uneducated  in  any  broad  sense  as  recognized  by  the  schools, 
unskilled  in  the  art  of  war  as  taught  by  the  masters,  he  yet  pos- 
sessed a  mind  singularly  clear  and  original  in  its  grasp  of  such 
military  tactics  as  were  most  useful  and  essential  for  operations 
mainly  with  sractll  arms  and  in  a  thickly  wooded  country.  He 
seemed  to  know  intuitively  all  that  was  essential  in  planning  a 
battle,  whether  offensive  or  defensive,  and  he  was  as  vigorous 
and  effective  in  execution  as  he  was  yvke  in  plan  and  skillful 
in  strategy.  Physically  and  mentally  he  was  a  born  hero,  waiting 
only  for  opportunity,  and  the  opportunity  came. 

His  rough  and  hardy  experience  as  hunter  and  trapper  in  his 
boyhood,  his  knowledge  of  the  habits  and  characteristics  of  the 
natives  and  their  mode  of  warfare,  early  acquired,  added  not 
a  little  to  his  effectiveness  in  many  a  critical  moment  when  the 
fortunes  of  war  hung  in  doubtful  balance. 

His  intense  loyalty  to  his  country,  his  ardent  patriotism,  his 
quenchless  love  of  liberty  —  these  were  never  questioned,  and 
he  lost  no  opportunity  to  impress  his  views  and  sentiments  upon 
the  community  about  him,  and  such  was  his  force  of  character 
and  power  and  energy  of  expression  that  he  swept  all  opposi- 
tion before  him,  and  nowhere  in  the  colonies  was  there  greater 
unanimity  of  sentiment  in  favor  of  American  independence  and 
entire  and  absolute  freedom  from  British  domination  and  control 
than  within  the  circle  where  his  influence  was  the  greatest. 

The  colonies  did  not  come  suddenly  and  unanimously  to  the 
demand  for  separation  and  independence.  The  sentiment  of 
loyalty  to  the  parent  government  was  deeply  rooted  in  the 
American  heart,  and  when  her  injustice  and  oppressions  became 
offensive,  obnoxious,  and  at  last  unbearable,  many  a  patriotic 
citizen  held  up  his  respectful  petition  to  the  crown  for  justice, 
sincerely  hoping  that  its  granting  would  end  all  further  contro- 
versy, but  with  the  undrawn  sword  in  reserve  for  use  in  case  of 


19 

ultimate  refusal ;  but  the  obstinacy  of  the  king  was  a  most  potent 
factor,  under  the  providence  of  God.  in  solving  the  mighty 
problem,  to  the  everlasting  glory  of  America  and  the  welfare  of 
mankind. 

In  this  feeling  Stark  did  not  share.  His  just  and  accurate 
judgment  of  King  George  III.  convinced  him  of  the  folly  and 
uselessness  of  longer  supplication  and  entreaty,  and  so  he  came 
early  and  inflexibly  to  the  resolve  to  which  others  came,  after 
longer  and  useless  parley  with  the  infatuated  and  unreasoning 
despot. 

General  Stark's  participation  in  the  campaigns  of  the  seven 
years'  French  and  Indian  war  had  given  him  great  advantages 
over  his  brother  officers  in  the  revolutionary  conflict  who  had 
taken  no  military  lessons  in  that  best  of  all  schools —  the  school 
of  practical  experience. 

General  Stark  himself  felt  his  superiority  in  this  respect,  and 
he  had  a  right  so  to  feel.  And  it  takes  no  great  stretch  of 
imagination  to  conjecture  that  he  felt  some  measure  of  disap- 
pointment if  not  of  chagrin,  that  what  was  so  manifest  to  him 
and  of  such  public  notoriety  throughout  the  colonies,  should 
receive  so  little  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  colonial 
authorities. 

He  had  great  independence  of  character,  and  perhaps  was 
somewhat  punctilious  in  matters  of  etiquette,  and  he  was  not 
always  in  accord  with  his  contemporaries,  nor  in  harmony  with 
those  who  had  the  conduct  of  public  affairs  in  the  then  some- 
what chaotic  and  provisional  condition  of  the  colonial  govern- 
ment. 

If,  for  an  hour,  as  another  has  said,  he  played  Achilles  in  his 
tent,  it  was  only  because,  as  he  saw  it,  the  pathway  of  honor 
left  no  other  choice.  But  the  best  and  most  conclusive  answer 
to  the  only  criticism  ever  made  upon  his  conduct  in  tempo- 
rarily retiring  from  service  when  the  contest  was  still  on,  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  nearly  a  century  and  a  quarter  after  the 
occurrence,  after  intervening  generations  have  come  and  gone, 
after  the  unerring  searchlight  of  history  has  focalized  its  rays 
upon  his  conduct  and  explored  his  motives,  when  no  false  col- 
oring could  deceive,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  with  perfect 


20 

unanimity,  with  no  dissenting  voice  heard  within  all  her  border?, 
selects  the  statue  of  Stark  as  the  companion  of  that  of  Daniel 
Webster,  whose  name  no  title  can  honor  and  no  praise  exalt,  to 
represent  the  grandest  and  noblest  types  of  her  manhood  pro- 
duct in  the  great  art  gallery  of  the  nation. 

This  final  and  irreversible  judgment  of  history  leaves  nothing 
to  be  extenuated,  nothing  to  be  defended.  Confessedly  too 
little  of  a  politician  always  to  secure  merited  recognition,  he 
was  too  proud  a  man  to  submit  to  rank  injusiice  or  to  serve 
in  any  capacity  or  any  cause  under  conditions  that  involved 
personal  humiliation.  It  is  but  simple  justice  to  say  of  him 
to-day  that  he  never  failed  to  respond  to  his  country's  call 
when  an  honorable  pathway  to  service  was  open  to  him. 

No  opportunity  was  given  to  General  Stark  and  the  New 
Hampshire  patriots  to  participate  in  the  affair  at  Lexington 
and  Concord.  The  movement,  intended  as  a  surprise,  was  not 
heralded  so  far  away.  No  Paul  Revere  on  foaming  steed  rode 
up  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack,  sounding  the  alarm  that  war 
was  on,  in  season  for  the  fray.  No  signal  light  in  belfry  tower 
could  shoot  its  feeble  ray  to  these  distant  hills  to  tell  whether 
the  British  had  left  Boston  by  land  or  water.  But  the  story 
of  Lexington  and  Concord  flew  on  the  wings  of  the  wind  to 
all  parts  of  the  country,  and  hardly  had  the  British  forces  ac- 
complished their  hasty  and  harassed  retreat  into  Boston  when 
Stark  and  hundreds  of  his  comrades  were  at  their  heels. 

Only  one  drop  of  innocent  blood  ruthlessly  shed,  only  one 
hostile  act  against  the  long  suffering  colonies  was  needed  to 
electrify  the  people  and  set  the  whole  land  ablaze  with  patriotic 
ardor.  That  blood  had  now  been  shed,  that  overtact  had  now 
been  committed.  The  whitened  fields  waved  their  tinseled 
plumes  to  the  harvest  moon  and  nodded  for  the  reaper's  sickle, 
and  the  reaper  came.  In  a  twinkle  this  whole  country  was 
emptied  of  its  resolute,  stalwart  manhood,  the  grand  "hero  of 
the  hills"  leading  and  pointing  the  way.  No  less  brave  hearts 
were  left  behind,  —  hearts  that  could  dare  and  pray  if  they 
could  not  fight,  —  but  they  were  the  hearts  of  mothers,  wives, 
and  daughters. 

Anciently  it  was  said,  "All  roads  led  to  Rome."     Now  all 


21 

footsteps  turned  to  Boston,  for  thither  led  the  trail  of  blood 
from  Concord.  Those  blood  drops  shone  bright  in  deepest 
scarlet  on  the  hearthstone  in  every  American  patriot's  home, 
and  they  stained  the  threshold  of  every  door.  The  good  old 
parson  smiled  when  he  read  to  his  faithful  flock,  "Vengeance 
is  mine  saith  the  Lord,"  and  then  he  solemnly  added,  "All 
God's  children  are  his  partners  in  this  business." 

Cambridge  was  the  tent-field  of  this  gathering  army.  No,  it 
was  not  an  army.  It  is  a  rank  misnomer  to  so  designate  it. 
Material  there  was,  and  the  best  and  noblest  for  war,  but  it 
was  not  yet  an  army.  It  was  only  a  gathering  of  the  faithful. 
an  assembly,  a  throng,  a  small  multitude.  Every  man  went 
his  own  way  and  kept  step  with  himself.  But  if  there  was  yet 
no  army  there  were  its  characteristics.  Everybody  wanted  to 
fight,  and  not  only  wanted  to  fight  but  was  bound  to  be  grat- 
ified.    The  hand  was  uplifted  and  the  blow  must  fall. 

And  yet  how  unprepared  for  battle,  for  conflict  with  trained, 
drilled,  machine-like  moving  veterans,  whose  occupation  was 
war  and  whose  delight  the  smoke  of  battle  !  Hardly  two  men 
were  armed  alike.  Every  man  had  to  pare  his  bullets  to  fit 
his  own  musket.  There  was  no  interchange  of  ammunition. 
A  cartridge  was  useless  unless  a  gun  could  be  hunted  up  that 
it  would  fit.  In  this  gathering  of  the  yeomanry  there  was  little 
pretension  as  to  uniform  and  still  less  as  to  uniformity.  The 
garb  of  the  field,  the  shop,  the  mill,  the  chase,  all  passed  in- 
spection alike. 

So  far  as  it  was  an  army  it  was  an  army  of  many  commanders. 
There  was  no  supreme  authority,  no  military  head.  Connect- 
icut was  there  with  Putnam  in  command.  New  Hampshire  was 
there  under  Stark  and  Reed,  while  Massachusetts  had  a  much 
longer  official  roster,  but  there  was  no  one  master  spirit  to  assume 
control  of  all  and  mold  them  into  unity. 

The  movement  to  build  a  redoubt  on  the  heights  of  Bunker 
Hill  was  based  upon  no  strategy  looking  to  any  important  mili- 
tary results?  Of  wiiat  use  was  Bunker  Hill  to  the  patriots 
swarming  around  Boston  ?  Every  man  who  went  across  the 
Neck  to  fortify  that  post  marched  into  a  trap  where  he  could 
have  been  starved  to  death  without  firing  a  shot,  or  the  loss  of 
a  man,  simply  by  the  British  taking  possession  of  the  Neck  and 


22 

cutting  off  communication  from  without.  But  they  knew  the- 
British  would  not  submit  to  their  presence  in  that  position  and 
so  on  the  night  of  the  i6th  a  thousand  men  crossed  Charlestown 
Neck  to  throw  up  a  redoubt  and  bring  on  a  fight. 

The  story  of  Bunker  Hill  needs  no  recital  here.  A  Boston 
historian  has  said:  "The  two  men  in  this  army  most  experi- 
enced in  war  were  General  Putnam  of  Connecticut  and  Colonel 
Stark  of  the  New  Hampshire  forces.  Their  fame  and  their 
presence  are  a  tower  of  strength.  The  man  upon  whom  the 
army  most  relies  after  these  two  is  General  Warren,  who  has  just 
been  elected  but  has  not  received  his  commission."  General 
Gage,  surveying  the  field  of  operations  from  the  steeple  of  the 
Old  North  Church  before  the  first  charge,  was  asked  if  he 
thought  the  rebels  would  stand.  "Yes,"  he  replied,  "if  one 
John  Stark  is  there,  for  he  is  a  brave  fellow." 

The  patriots  lost  Bunker  Hill  on  the  17th  of  June,  1775,  for 
two  reasons :  First,  the  want  of  sufficient  ammunition,  and,  sec- 
ondly, a  lack  of  military  discipline.  With  plenty  of  ammunition 
the  redoubt  could  have  been  defended  till  re-enforced  from  other 
parts  of  the  line.  With  an  ordinary  degree  of  discipline  the 
reserves  would  have  obeyed  the  orders  of  General  Putnam  and 
re-enforced  the  redoubt  before  the  third  assault  struck  it.  The 
farmers  and  hunters,  who  in  large  measure  composed  the  Amer- 
ican forces  that  day,  had  very  crude  notions  as  to  the  amount  of 
ammunition  needed  to  fight  a  battle.  They  considered  a  charge 
as  sure  for  a  man  as  for  game  in  a  hunt.  They  had  not  heard  in 
that  day  that  it  took  a  man's  weight  in  lead  to  kill  him  in  the 
arena  of  war.  Even  an  officer  of  rank  declared,  in  a  conference 
about  ammunition  before  the  battle,  that  five  rounds  per  man. 
was  enough  if  everybody  would  take  as  good  aim  as  he  did  when 
he  shot  deer.  It  is  safe  to  say,  however,  that  in  no  conflict  ever 
fought  in  civilized  warfare,  under  like  conditions,  did  so  little 
lead  leave  so  many  slain  as  went  down  before  the  patriot  lines  on 
Bunker  Hill. 

It  really  mattered  little  which  way  the  issue  of  the  battle  was 
decided,  so  far  as  the  possession  of  Bunker  Hill  was  concerned, 
for  it  could  have  been  of  no  use  to  the  patriots.  But  everything 
of  moment  that  day  that  was  fought  for  was  won  by  the  colonies.. 
Independence  was  won   then  and  there,  though  acknowledged 


23 

seven  years  later.  How  rich  was  that  day  in  incidents  which 
shed  immortal  glory  upon  it.  When  Warren  came  into  the  re- 
doubt that  morning  and  was  hailed  by  a  universal  shout,  Prescott 
magnanimously  offered  him  the  command,  which  he  declined 
with  characteristic  modesty.  He  had  a  general's  commission  in 
his  pocket  but  had  not  qualified,  and  preferred  to  fight  that  day 
musket  in  hand,  as  a  private  in  the  ranks.  Unselfish,  gloriously 
unselfish,  but  wise  beyond  all  measure,  was  that  decision.  Put- 
nam urged  him  to  go  into  the  redoubt,  for  his  life  was  too  pre- 
cious to  be  exposed  in  open  field.  But  he  was  not  hunting  for 
safety  that  day.  He  was  an  example  maker  in  the  great  cause  of 
liberty,  so  dear  to  his  heart,  and  so  chose  the  weakest  spot  in  the 
line  between  the  redoubt  and  Stark's  command. 

With  musket  in  hand  he  tell ;  fell  proclaiming  to  all  mankind 
by  the  conspicuousness  of  his  example,  how  great,  how  noble, 
how  glorious  it  was  to  die  for  liberty  and  for  country.  No 
grander  opportunity  ever  came  to  man  in  the  great  conflict  of 
human  rights  against  oppression  since  the  morning  stars  first  sang 
together,  and  never  was  opportunity  more  grandly  embraced. 
The  life  that  went  out  that  day  in  darkness  and  death  will  illu- 
minate the  pathway  of  man  forever.  No  rank,  no  title,  no  length 
of  days  could  add  to  the  sublimity  of  his  achievements  in  the 
■early  sunrise  of  Liberty  to  man  on  earth,  for  he  filled  to  over- 
flowing the  full  measure  of  human  glory. 

England  should  have  seen  at  sunset  on  that  day  how  useless  to 
protract  the  struggle.  The  spirit  of  the  colonies,  as  there  mani- 
fested, was  unconquerable  and  would  down  at  no  human  bidding. 
How  little  of  America  could  she  purchase  at  the  price  she  paid 
for  that  field  of  slaughter  without  bankruptcy  to  her  treasury  of 
blood  and  bone? 

It  counts  nothing  against  Bunker  Hill  that  the  possession  of 
the  field  was  lost.  What  the  patriots  did  there  marks  an  era  in 
the  history  of  the  world  more  richly  freighted  with  blessings  for 
the  race  of  man  than  any  other  on  history's  page. 

It  was  Stark's  rare  good  fortune  to  participate  in  the  engage- 
ments of  greatest  importance  and  renown  by  reason  of  the  con- 
sequences flowing  from  them.  Notably  among  these  are  Bunker 
Hill  and  Bennington.  The  numbers  engaged  in  both  instances 
l)ore  little  proportion  to  results  achieved.       The    former  was   the 


24 

grand  inauguration,  and  the  latter  the  most  magnificent  rescue 
from  the  low  ebb  tide  of  the  patriot's  cause,  which  dispelled 
doubt  and  gloom  and  spanned  the  broad  land  with  the  bow  of 
hope  and  promise. 

Bennington  was  not  a  great  battle,  as  this  generation  looks 
upon  war.  Measured  by  the  great  battlefields  of  the  Rebellion 
it  pales  into  insignificance.  Yet  in  magnitude  of  consequences 
it  was  the  Gettysburg  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  It  turned 
the  tide,  which,  in  its  swelling  volume  a  little  later  on  engulfed 
Burgoyne  and  his  hosts  in  the  red  sea  of  British  disaster. 

When  Grant  said,  "  We  will  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes 
all  summer,"  he  epitomized  the  grand  strategy  that  crushed  out 
the  life  of  the  rebellion  ;  but  Stark,  nearly  a  century  before,  with 
no  less  wisdom  and  foresight,  and  penetration  no  less  acute,,  as 
laconically  voiced  the  true  philosophy  of  that  earlier  struggle 
when  he  said  to  Washington  at  Trenton,  "  If  we  would  achieve 
independence  we  must  not  rely  upon  our  spades  and  pickaxes, 
but  upon  our  fire-arms  and  our  courage.  " 

However  agreeable  it  might  be  to  follow  the  hero  of  this  oc- 
casion through  his  long  and  distinguished  career,  to  render  fit 
and  appropriate  tribute  to  his  companions  in  arms,  whose  glory 
and  renown  shed  such  imperishable  honor  upon  the  old  Granite 
State,  and  to  the  hero-patriots  of  the  musket  who  composed  his 
ever  invincible  battalions,  under  the  necessary  limitations  of  the 
hour  we  must  here  pause  in  the  story  of  Stark,  a  story  heretofore 
often  told  and  hereafter  many  times  to  be  repeated.  And  let  us 
hope,  in  the  not  far  off  future,  it  may  be  repeated  here  in  fuller 
detail  by  more  eloquent  lips  than  mine,  when  what  we  here  see 
in  crude,  unfinished  state,  responding  to  the  cunning  hand  of  art 
and  the  transforming  touch  of  culture,  shall  take  on  the  charm 
and  beauty  of  perfect  finish. 

When,  too,  I  trust  that  the  equestrian  statue  of  Stark,  already 
a  fixed  fact  in  the  resolute  and  inflexible  purpose  of  this  patriotic 
people,  shall  adorn  yonder  elevation,  and,  as  a  sleepless  sentinel, 
keep  faithful  watch  and  guard  that  the  altar  fires  of  liberty  shall 
never  become  extinguished  in  the  land  of  her  birth. 

When,  too,  may  we  still  further  hope,  in  that  day  of  approxi- 
mate justice  to  a  great  name  and  noble  character,  representatives, 
not  only  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  but  of  all  the  original 


25 

thirteen,  shall  here  behold  a  more  lofty  and  imposing  monumen- 
tal structure,  sinking  deeper  into  the  earth  and  lifting  its  summit 
nearer  to  the  clouds,  the  cheerful  and  willing  work  of  state  or 
municipal  gratitude  and  pride,  fitly  celebrating  for  all  time  the 
honored  name  it  will  bear  —  the  grandest  cause  and  the  noblest 
struggle  in  all  ages  —  and  worthy  of  the  state  and  city  he  hon- 
ored by  his  citizenship  and  blessed  by  his  supreme  courage  and 
devotion  on  the  field  of  battle. 

I  cannot  appropriately  utter  the  closing  word  of  the  hour 
without  tendering  to  the  various  organizations,  patriotic,  military, 
and  civic,  participating  in  these  dedicatory  exercises,  the  pro- 
found acknowledgments  of  the  people  whose  sentiments  I  am 
permitted  to  voice,  for  their  generous  and  patriotic  action  on  this 
occasion.  In  such  hands  the  honor  of  the  city  can  never  suffer, 
and  her  high  and  sacred  duty  as  custodian  of  the  sepulchre  of 
Stark  we  may  rest  assured  will  henceforth  be  met  in  a  manner  be- 
fitting so  honorable,  so  exalted  a  trust. 

To  the  descendants  of  our  honored  hero,  some  of  whom  still 
perpetuate  his  name  among  us,  and  whose  presence  here  is  a  cir- 
cumstance of  deep  interest  and  impressive  significance,  we  offer 
our  congratulations  that  time  neither  obscures  nor  bedims 
their  inheritance  of  ancestral  glory.  Long  may  they  live  in  its 
enjoyment  and  the  happiness  which  it  confers. 

Fifty  years  ago  this  hour  the  completion  of  Bunker  Hill  monu- 
ment was  celebrated.  How  crowded  with  events  of  mightiest 
magnitude  and  greatest  moment  to  this  country  and  to  mankind 
is  that  half  century  I  What  triumphs  for  national  unity  and 
integrity,  what  progress  in  art  and  science,  what  growth  and 
development,  what  advancement  in  civilization  has  it  witnessed  ! 

Let  us  retire  from  these  ceremonies  with  the  exalted  hope  that 
those  who  shall  follow  in  our  footsteps  and  assemble  upon  this 
spot  a  half  century  hence  to  celebrate  the  event  which  has  entered 
so  largely  into  our  thought  to-day  may  be  equally  fortunate  and 
happy  in  the  retrospect  that  awaits  them. 


The  closing  exercises  consisted  of  the  singing  of  "The 
Star  Spangled  Banner  ''  by  the  school  children,  after  which 
the  assembly  dispersed. 


I 


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